The December stabbing of a woman outside the primary school during classes led to a brief lockdown of the River Street facility for security purposes.

A man who authorities say repeatedly stabbed his estranged girlfriend outside the Red Bank Primary School in December was indicted Wednesday on attempted murder and related charges, the Monmouth County Prosecutor‘s office announced.

Twenty-three-year old Red Bank resident Jorge Vargas-Mancilla remains in custody on $750,000 bail following the December 3 incident, in which school principal Rick Cohen and a guidance counselor were threatened with a long kitchen knife when they tried to stop the attack, the prosecutor contends.

The announcement gives a fuller official account of the 9a incident than had previously been available. It says that Vargas-Mancilla arrived at the school earlier that morning in search of the 21-year-old victim and their five year-old daughter, who was a student at the school.

When school staff saw Vargas-Mancilla acting suspiciously outside the school, they brought him to the front desk and alerted the principal. Just as the principal was speaking to him, the victim arrived at the school with their daughter. Vargas-Mancilla and the victim then walked outside while their daughter went to class. Once outside, Vargas-Mancilla used a long kitchen knife to stab the victim repeatedly in the neck, back, arms, and upper torso.

After initiating a school lockdown, the principal and a guidance counselor ran outside to aid the victim. When they reached Vargas-Mancilla, he swung the knife at both of them and continued to stab the victim. Then, while the guidance counselor distracted Vargas-Mancilla and kicked him in the back, the principal grabbed his arm and took the knife from him.

Police arrived to find the victim “lying on her back in the courtyard leading to the school, bleeding severely, with Vargas-Mancilla lying on top of her crying and yelling.” Cohen was trying to pull the assailant off the victim when police intervened, taking Varga Mancilla into custody.

The victim was taken to Riverview Medical Center, where she had surgery for numerous stab wounds to her head, neck, and hands, the prosecutor’s office says. There was no report on her present condition.

Here’s a prepared statement from Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis A. Valentin:

“Vargas-Mancilla viciously attacked his former girlfriend and the mother of his child by repeatedly stabbing her in broad daylight. What makes this attack especially horrific is the fact that he chose to do so in front of his daughter’s school just as the school day began.”

Prosecutor Valentin commended the school personnel who saved the victim’s life, stating, “Not only did school officials ensure the safety of the students by immediately locking down the school, but the principal and guidance counselor selflessly put themselves in harm’s way by distracting and then disarming the defendant.”

Vargas Mancilla faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Here’s the full announcement: Download 031809c

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